Transforming validated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for transforming validated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data are presented. A computing device may load source mockup data defining a first user interface layout that includes first user interface elements that each comply with a first plurality of rules. In addition, each of the first user interface elements has a parent-child relationship with at least one different one of the first user interface elements. The computing device may load interface mapping data defining a plurality of mapping data. The computing device may produce target mockup data by using the interface mapping data to convert each of the first user interface elements into a corresponding second user interface element of a second user interface layout, while maintaining each of the parent-child relationships in the first user interface layout. The computing device may store the target mockup data defining the second user interface layout.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/377,491, filed Apr. 8, 2019, andentitled “Transforming Validated User Interface Layouts UsingInter-Platform Design Mapping Data,” and which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

FIELD

Aspects of the disclosure relate to computer hardware and software. Inparticular, one or more aspects of the disclosure relate to computerhardware and software for transforming validated user interface layoutsusing inter-platform design mapping data.

BACKGROUND

Software application development is often a complex process,particularly when the software application being developed is anenterprise application that must operate reliably and consistently ondifferent systems and platforms. As new platforms and computing devicesare introduced, the software application development process may be madefurther complex. For instance, the adoption of different operatingsystems, display resolutions, and other variances may present variouschallenges in the software application development process. As a result,it may be difficult to develop and adapt software applications fordifferent platforms and computing devices.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the disclosure provide technical solutions that may addressand overcome one or more technical challenges associated with developingand adapting software applications for different platforms and computingdevices. In particular, one or more aspects of the disclosure providecomputer-implemented techniques for transforming validated userinterface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a computing device having atleast one processor and memory may load source mockup data defining afirst validated user interface layout associated with a first set ofuser interface design guidelines. Subsequently, the computing device mayload interface mapping data defining relationships between first userinterface elements associated with the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines and second user interface elements associated with asecond set of user interface design guidelines different from the firstset of user interface design guidelines. Then, the computing device maytransform the source mockup data defining the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines based on the interface mapping data to produce target mockupdata defining a second validated user interface layout associated withthe second set of user interface design guidelines. Thereafter, thecomputing device may store the target mockup data defining the secondvalidated user interface layout associated with the second set of userinterface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, loading the source mockup data defining the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines may include receiving the source mockup datafrom a graphic design application executing on the computing device.

In some embodiments, loading the interface mapping data defining therelationships between the first user interface elements associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines and the second userinterface elements associated with the second set of user interfacedesign guidelines different from the first set of user interface designguidelines may include receiving the interface mapping data from aserver maintaining a plurality of datasets defining a plurality of userinterface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, loading the interface mapping data defining therelationships between the first user interface elements associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines and the second userinterface elements associated with the second set of user interfacedesign guidelines different from the first set of user interface designguidelines may include requesting the interface mapping data from theserver based on detecting that the first validated user interface layoutdefined by the source mockup data complies with a plurality of rulesspecified by the first set of user interface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, the interface mapping data may relate userinterface properties associated with a first operating system to userinterface properties associated with a second operating system differentfrom the first operating system.

In some embodiments, the interface mapping data may relate userinterface properties associated with a first display resolution to userinterface properties associated with a second display resolutiondifferent from the first display resolution.

In some embodiments, transforming the source mockup data defining thefirst validated user interface layout associated with the first set ofuser interface design guidelines based on the interface mapping data toproduce the target mockup data defining the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines may include: identifying elements in the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines; and converting the elements identified in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines into corresponding elements of the secondvalidated user interface layout associated with the second set of userinterface design guidelines based on the relationships defined in theinterface mapping data.

In some embodiments, identifying the elements in the first validateduser interface layout associated with the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines may include identifying the elements in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines based on a plurality of labels correspondingto the elements in the first validated user interface layout.

In some embodiments, identifying the elements in the first validateduser interface layout associated with the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines may include identifying the elements in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines based on analyzing an image of the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, the first set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a first plurality of rules for user interfaces on a firstoperating system, and the second set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a second plurality of rules for user interfaces on a secondoperating system different from the first operating system.

In some embodiments, the first set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a first plurality of rules for user interfaces rendered at afirst resolution, and the second set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a second plurality of rules for user interfaces rendered ata second resolution different from the first resolution.

In some embodiments, storing the target mockup data defining the secondvalidated user interface layout associated with the second set of userinterface design guidelines may include outputting the target mockupdata to a graphic design application executing on the computing device.

In some embodiments, the computing device may present, on a displayscreen, an image of the second validated user interface layoutassociated with the second set of user interface design guidelines basedon the target mockup data. In some embodiments, the computing device maysend, via a communication interface, to one or more computer systems,the target mockup data defining the second validated user interfacelayout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines.

In some embodiments, the first validated user interface layoutassociated with the first set of user interface design guidelines maycomply with a first plurality of rules specified by the first set ofuser interface design guidelines, and the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines may comply with a second plurality of rules specified by thesecond set of user interface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, the first set of user interface design guidelines,the second set of user interface design guidelines, and the interfacemapping data may be defined in a structured, machine-readable format. Inaddition, the first plurality of rules specified by the first set ofuser interface design guidelines may include rules defining objectcolors, object shapes, font settings, or screen positioningrelationships. Additionally, the second plurality of rules specified bythe second set of user interface design guidelines may includeadditional rules defining object colors, object shapes, font settings,or screen positioning relationships.

These and additional aspects will be appreciated with the benefit of thedisclosures discussed in further detail below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of aspects described herein and theadvantages thereof may be acquired by referring to the followingdescription in consideration of the accompanying drawings, in which likereference numbers indicate like features, and wherein:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative computer system architecture that may beused in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative remote-access system architecture thatmay be used in accordance with one or more illustrative aspectsdescribed herein.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative virtualized (hypervisor) systemarchitecture that may be used in accordance with one or moreillustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative cloud-based system architecture that maybe used in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative enterprise mobility management system inaccordance with one or more illustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 6 depicts another illustrative enterprise mobility managementsystem in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative computing environment for transformingvalidated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mappingdata in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIGS. 8A and 8B depict an example event sequence for transformingvalidated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mappingdata in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIGS. 9 and 10 depict example graphical user interfaces for transformingvalidated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mappingdata in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein.

FIG. 11 depicts example design maps for transforming validated userinterface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data in accordancewith one or more illustrative aspects described herein.

FIG. 12 depicts an example method of transforming validated userinterface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data in accordancewith one or more illustrative aspects described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of the various embodiments, reference ismade to the accompanying drawings identified above and which form a parthereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration various embodimentsin which aspects described herein may be practiced. It is to beunderstood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural andfunctional modifications may be made without departing from the scopedescribed herein. Various aspects are capable of other embodiments andof being practiced or being carried out in various different ways.

It is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used hereinare for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are to be giventheir broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of “including” and“comprising” and variations thereof is meant to encompass the itemslisted thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional itemsand equivalents thereof. The use of the terms “connected,” “coupled,”“positioned,” and similar terms, is meant to include both direct andindirect mounting, connecting, coupling, positioning and engaging.

Computing Architecture

Computer software, hardware, and networks may be utilized in a varietyof different system environments, including standalone, networked,remote-access (also known as remote desktop), virtualized, and/orcloud-based environments, among others. FIG. 1 illustrates one exampleof a system architecture and data processing device that may be used toimplement one or more illustrative aspects described herein in astandalone and/or networked environment. Various network nodes 103, 105,107, and 109 may be interconnected via a wide area network (WAN) 101,such as the Internet. Other networks may also or alternatively be used,including private intranets, corporate networks, local area networks(LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN), wireless networks, personalnetworks (PAN), and the like. Network 101 is for illustration purposesand may be replaced with fewer or additional computer networks. A localarea network 133 may have one or more of any known LAN topology and mayuse one or more of a variety of different protocols, such as Ethernet.Devices 103, 105, 107, and 109 and other devices (not shown) may beconnected to one or more of the networks via twisted pair wires, coaxialcable, fiber optics, radio waves, or other communication media.

The term “network” as used herein and depicted in the drawings refersnot only to systems in which remote storage devices are coupled togethervia one or more communication paths, but also to stand-alone devicesthat may be coupled, from time to time, to such systems that havestorage capability. Consequently, the term “network” includes not only a“physical network” but also a “content network,” which is comprised ofthe data-attributable to a single entity-which resides across allphysical networks.

The components may include data server 103, web server 105, and clientcomputers 107, 109. Data server 103 provides overall access, control andadministration of databases and control software for performing one ormore illustrative aspects describe herein. Data server 103 may beconnected to web server 105 through which users interact with and obtaindata as requested. Alternatively, data server 103 may act as a webserver itself and be directly connected to the Internet. Data server 103may be connected to web server 105 through the local area network 133,the wide area network 101 (e.g., the Internet), via direct or indirectconnection, or via some other network. Users may interact with the dataserver 103 using remote computers 107, 109, e.g., using a web browser toconnect to the data server 103 via one or more externally exposed websites hosted by web server 105. Client computers 107, 109 may be used inconcert with data server 103 to access data stored therein, or may beused for other purposes. For example, from client device 107 a user mayaccess web server 105 using an Internet browser, as is known in the art,or by executing a software application that communicates with web server105 and/or data server 103 over a computer network (such as theInternet).

Servers and applications may be combined on the same physical machines,and retain separate virtual or logical addresses, or may reside onseparate physical machines. FIG. 1 illustrates just one example of anetwork architecture that may be used, and those of skill in the artwill appreciate that the specific network architecture and dataprocessing devices used may vary, and are secondary to the functionalitythat they provide, as further described herein. For example, servicesprovided by web server 105 and data server 103 may be combined on asingle server.

Each component 103, 105, 107, 109 may be any type of known computer,server, or data processing device. Data server 103, e.g., may include aprocessor 111 controlling overall operation of the data server 103. Dataserver 103 may further include random access memory (RAM) 113, read onlymemory (ROM) 115, network interface 117, input/output interfaces 119(e.g., keyboard, mouse, display, printer, etc.), and memory 121.Input/output (I/O) 119 may include a variety of interface units anddrives for reading, writing, displaying, and/or printing data or files.Memory 121 may further store operating system software 123 forcontrolling overall operation of the data processing device 103, controllogic 125 for instructing data server 103 to perform aspects describedherein, and other application software 127 providing secondary, support,and/or other functionality which may or might not be used in conjunctionwith aspects described herein. The control logic 125 may also bereferred to herein as the data server software 125. Functionality of thedata server software 125 may refer to operations or decisions madeautomatically based on rules coded into the control logic 125, mademanually by a user providing input into the system, and/or a combinationof automatic processing based on user input (e.g., queries, dataupdates, etc.).

Memory 121 may also store data used in performance of one or moreaspects described herein, including a first database 129 and a seconddatabase 131. In some embodiments, the first database 129 may includethe second database 131 (e.g., as a separate table, report, etc.). Thatis, the information can be stored in a single database, or separatedinto different logical, virtual, or physical databases, depending onsystem design. Devices 105, 107, and 109 may have similar or differentarchitecture as described with respect to device 103. Those of skill inthe art will appreciate that the functionality of data processing device103 (or device 105, 107, or 109) as described herein may be spreadacross multiple data processing devices, for example, to distributeprocessing load across multiple computers, to segregate transactionsbased on geographic location, user access level, quality of service(QoS), etc.

One or more aspects may be embodied in computer-usable or readable dataand/or computer-executable instructions, such as in one or more programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices as describedherein. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types when executed by a processor ina computer or other device. The modules may be written in a source codeprogramming language that is subsequently compiled for execution, or maybe written in a scripting language such as (but not limited to)HyperText Markup Language (HTML) or Extensible Markup Language (XML).The computer executable instructions may be stored on a computerreadable medium such as a nonvolatile storage device. Any suitablecomputer readable storage media may be utilized, including hard disks,CD-ROMs, optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, solid statestorage devices, and/or any combination thereof. In addition, varioustransmission (non-storage) media representing data or events asdescribed herein may be transferred between a source and a destinationin the form of electromagnetic waves traveling through signal-conductingmedia such as metal wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmissionmedia (e.g., air and/or space). Various aspects described herein may beembodied as a method, a data processing system, or a computer programproduct. Therefore, various functionalities may be embodied in whole orin part in software, firmware, and/or hardware or hardware equivalentssuch as integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), andthe like. Particular data structures may be used to more effectivelyimplement one or more aspects described herein, and such data structuresare contemplated within the scope of computer executable instructionsand computer-usable data described herein.

With further reference to FIG. 2 , one or more aspects described hereinmay be implemented in a remote-access environment. FIG. 2 depicts anexample system architecture including a computing device 201 in anillustrative computing environment 200 that may be used according to oneor more illustrative aspects described herein. Computing device 201 maybe used as a server 206 a in a single-server or multi-server desktopvirtualization system (e.g., a remote access or cloud system) and can beconfigured to provide virtual machines for client access devices. Thecomputing device 201 may have a processor 203 for controlling overalloperation of the device 201 and its associated components, including RAM205, ROM 207, input/output (I/O) module 209, and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a mouse, keypad, touch screen, scanner,optical reader, and/or stylus (or other input device(s)) through which auser of computing device 201 may provide input, and may also include oneor more of a speaker for providing audio output and one or more of avideo display device for providing textual, audiovisual, and/orgraphical output. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or otherstorage to provide instructions to processor 203 for configuringcomputing device 201 into a special purpose computing device in order toperform various functions as described herein. For example, memory 215may store software used by the computing device 201, such as anoperating system 217, application programs 219, and an associateddatabase 221.

Computing device 201 may operate in a networked environment supportingconnections to one or more remote computers, such as terminals 240 (alsoreferred to as client devices and/or client machines). The terminals 240may be personal computers, mobile devices, laptop computers, tablets, orservers that include many or all of the elements described above withrespect to the computing device 103 or 201. The network connectionsdepicted in FIG. 2 include a local area network (LAN) 225 and a widearea network (WAN) 229, but may also include other networks. When usedin a LAN networking environment, computing device 201 may be connectedto the LAN 225 through a network interface or adapter 223. When used ina WAN networking environment, computing device 201 may include a modemor other wide area network interface 227 for establishing communicationsover the WAN 229, such as computer network 230 (e.g., the Internet). Itwill be appreciated that the network connections shown are illustrativeand other means of establishing a communications link between thecomputers may be used. Computing device 201 and/or terminals 240 mayalso be mobile terminals (e.g., mobile phones, smartphones, personaldigital assistants (PDAs), notebooks, etc.) including various othercomponents, such as a battery, speaker, and antennas (not shown).

Aspects described herein may also be operational with numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments orconfigurations. Examples of other computing systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with aspectsdescribed herein include, but are not limited to, personal computers,server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network personal computers (PCs), minicomputers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, and the like.

As shown in FIG. 2 , one or more client devices 240 may be incommunication with one or more servers 206 a-206 n (generally referredto herein as “server(s) 206”). In one embodiment, the computingenvironment 200 may include a network appliance installed between theserver(s) 206 and client machine(s) 240. The network appliance maymanage client/server connections, and in some cases can load balanceclient connections amongst a plurality of backend servers 206.

The client machine(s) 240 may in some embodiments be referred to as asingle client machine 240 or a single group of client machines 240,while server(s) 206 may be referred to as a single server 206 or asingle group of servers 206. In one embodiment a single client machine240 communicates with more than one server 206, while in anotherembodiment a single server 206 communicates with more than one clientmachine 240. In yet another embodiment, a single client machine 240communicates with a single server 206.

A client machine 240 can, in some embodiments, be referenced by any oneof the following non-exhaustive terms: client machine(s); client(s);client computer(s); client device(s); client computing device(s); localmachine; remote machine; client node(s); endpoint(s); or endpointnode(s). The server 206, in some embodiments, may be referenced by anyone of the following non-exhaustive terms: server(s), local machine;remote machine; server farm(s), or host computing device(s).

In one embodiment, the client machine 240 may be a virtual machine. Thevirtual machine may be any virtual machine, while in some embodimentsthe virtual machine may be any virtual machine managed by a Type 1 orType 2 hypervisor, for example, a hypervisor developed by CitrixSystems, IBM, VMware, or any other hypervisor. In some aspects, thevirtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor, while in other aspectsthe virtual machine may be managed by a hypervisor executing on a server206 or a hypervisor executing on a client 240.

Some embodiments include a client device 240 that displays applicationoutput generated by an application remotely executing on a server 206 orother remotely located machine. In these embodiments, the client device240 may execute a virtual machine receiver program or application todisplay the output in an application window, a browser, or other outputwindow. In one example, the application is a desktop, while in otherexamples the application is an application that generates or presents adesktop. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications, as used herein, areprograms that execute after an instance of an operating system (and,optionally, also the desktop) has been loaded.

The server 206, in some embodiments, uses a remote presentation protocolor other program to send data to a thin-client or remote-displayapplication executing on the client to present display output generatedby an application executing on the server 206. The thin-client orremote-display protocol can be any one of the following non-exhaustivelist of protocols: the Independent Computing Architecture (ICA) protocoldeveloped by Citrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; or the RemoteDesktop Protocol (RDP) manufactured by the Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash.

A remote computing environment may include more than one server 206a-206 n such that the servers 206 a-206 n are logically grouped togetherinto a server farm 206, for example, in a cloud computing environment.The server farm 206 may include servers 206 that are geographicallydispersed while logically grouped together, or servers 206 that arelocated proximate to each other while logically grouped together.Geographically dispersed servers 206 a-206 n within a server farm 206can, in some embodiments, communicate using a WAN (wide), MAN(metropolitan), or LAN (local), where different geographic regions canbe characterized as: different continents; different regions of acontinent; different countries; different states; different cities;different campuses; different rooms; or any combination of the precedinggeographical locations. In some embodiments the server farm 206 may beadministered as a single entity, while in other embodiments the serverfarm 206 can include multiple server farms.

In some embodiments, a server farm may include servers 206 that executea substantially similar type of operating system platform (e.g.,WINDOWS, UNIX, LINUX, iOS, ANDROID, etc.) In other embodiments, serverfarm 206 may include a first group of one or more servers that execute afirst type of operating system platform, and a second group of one ormore servers that execute a second type of operating system platform.

Server 206 may be configured as any type of server, as needed, e.g., afile server, an application server, a web server, a proxy server, anappliance, a network appliance, a gateway, an application gateway, agateway server, a virtualization server, a deployment server, a SecureSockets Layer (SSL) VPN server, a firewall, a web server, an applicationserver or as a master application server, a server executing an activedirectory, or a server executing an application acceleration programthat provides firewall functionality, application functionality, or loadbalancing functionality. Other server types may also be used.

Some embodiments include a first server 206 a that receives requestsfrom a client machine 240, forwards the request to a second server 206 b(not shown), and responds to the request generated by the client machine240 with a response from the second server 206 b (not shown). Firstserver 206 a may acquire an enumeration of applications available to theclient machine 240 as well as address information associated with anapplication server 206 hosting an application identified within theenumeration of applications. First server 206 a can then present aresponse to the client's request using a web interface, and communicatedirectly with the client 240 to provide the client 240 with access to anidentified application. One or more clients 240 and/or one or moreservers 206 may transmit data over network 230, e.g., network 101.

FIG. 3 shows a high-level architecture of an illustrative desktopvirtualization system. As shown, the desktop virtualization system maybe single-server or multi-server system, or cloud system, including atleast one virtualization server 301 configured to provide virtualdesktops and/or virtual applications to one or more client accessdevices 240. As used herein, a desktop refers to a graphical environmentor space in which one or more applications may be hosted and/orexecuted. A desktop may include a graphical shell providing a userinterface for an instance of an operating system in which local and/orremote applications can be integrated. Applications may include programsthat execute after an instance of an operating system (and, optionally,also the desktop) has been loaded. Each instance of the operating systemmay be physical (e.g., one operating system per device) or virtual(e.g., many instances of an OS running on a single device). Eachapplication may be executed on a local device, or executed on a remotelylocated device (e.g., remoted).

A computer device 301 may be configured as a virtualization server in avirtualization environment, for example, a single-server, multi-server,or cloud computing environment. Virtualization server 301 illustrated inFIG. 3 can be deployed as and/or implemented by one or more embodimentsof the server 206 illustrated in FIG. 2 or by other known computingdevices. Included in virtualization server 301 is a hardware layer thatcan include one or more physical disks 304, one or more physical devices306, one or more physical processors 308, and one or more physicalmemories 316. In some embodiments, firmware 312 can be stored within amemory element in the physical memory 316 and can be executed by one ormore of the physical processors 308. Virtualization server 301 mayfurther include an operating system 314 that may be stored in a memoryelement in the physical memory 316 and executed by one or more of thephysical processors 308. Still further, a hypervisor 302 may be storedin a memory element in the physical memory 316 and can be executed byone or more of the physical processors 308.

Executing on one or more of the physical processors 308 may be one ormore virtual machines 332A-C (generally 332). Each virtual machine 332may have a virtual disk 326A-C and a virtual processor 328A-C. In someembodiments, a first virtual machine 332A may execute, using a virtualprocessor 328A, a control program 320 that includes a tools stack 324.Control program 320 may be referred to as a control virtual machine,Dom0, Domain 0, or other virtual machine used for system administrationand/or control. In some embodiments, one or more virtual machines 332B-Ccan execute, using a virtual processor 328B-C, a guest operating system330A-B.

Virtualization server 301 may include a hardware layer 310 with one ormore pieces of hardware that communicate with the virtualization server301. In some embodiments, the hardware layer 310 can include one or morephysical disks 304, one or more physical devices 306, one or morephysical processors 308, and one or more physical memory 316. Physicalcomponents 304, 306, 308, and 316 may include, for example, any of thecomponents described above. Physical devices 306 may include, forexample, a network interface card, a video card, a keyboard, a mouse, aninput device, a monitor, a display device, speakers, an optical drive, astorage device, a universal serial bus connection, a printer, a scanner,a network element (e.g., router, firewall, network address translator,load balancer, virtual private network (VPN) gateway, Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) router, etc.), or any device connected toor communicating with virtualization server 301. Physical memory 316 inthe hardware layer 310 may include any type of memory. Physical memory316 may store data, and in some embodiments may store one or moreprograms, or set of executable instructions. FIG. 3 illustrates anembodiment where firmware 312 is stored within the physical memory 316of virtualization server 301. Programs or executable instructions storedin the physical memory 316 can be executed by the one or more processors308 of virtualization server 301.

Virtualization server 301 may also include a hypervisor 302. In someembodiments, hypervisor 302 may be a program executed by processors 308on virtualization server 301 to create and manage any number of virtualmachines 332. Hypervisor 302 may be referred to as a virtual machinemonitor, or platform virtualization software. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 can be any combination of executable instructions andhardware that monitors virtual machines executing on a computingmachine. Hypervisor 302 may be Type 2 hypervisor, where the hypervisorexecutes within an operating system 314 executing on the virtualizationserver 301. Virtual machines may then execute at a level above thehypervisor 302. In some embodiments, the Type 2 hypervisor may executewithin the context of a user's operating system such that the Type 2hypervisor interacts with the user's operating system. In otherembodiments, one or more virtualization servers 301 in a virtualizationenvironment may instead include a Type 1 hypervisor (not shown). A Type1 hypervisor may execute on the virtualization server 301 by directlyaccessing the hardware and resources within the hardware layer 310. Thatis, while a Type 2 hypervisor 302 accesses system resources through ahost operating system 314, as shown, a Type 1 hypervisor may directlyaccess all system resources without the host operating system 314. AType 1 hypervisor may execute directly on one or more physicalprocessors 308 of virtualization server 301, and may include programdata stored in the physical memory 316.

Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, can provide virtual resources tooperating systems 330 or control programs 320 executing on virtualmachines 332 in any manner that simulates the operating systems 330 orcontrol programs 320 having direct access to system resources. Systemresources can include, but are not limited to, physical devices 306,physical disks 304, physical processors 308, physical memory 316, andany other component included in hardware layer 310 of the virtualizationserver 301. Hypervisor 302 may be used to emulate virtual hardware,partition physical hardware, virtualize physical hardware, and/orexecute virtual machines that provide access to computing environments.In still other embodiments, hypervisor 302 may control processorscheduling and memory partitioning for a virtual machine 332 executingon virtualization server 301. Hypervisor 302 may include thosemanufactured by VMWare, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif.; HyperV,VirtualServer or virtual PC hypervisors provided by Microsoft, orothers. In some embodiments, virtualization server 301 may execute ahypervisor 302 that creates a virtual machine platform on which guestoperating systems may execute. In these embodiments, the virtualizationserver 301 may be referred to as a host server. An example of such avirtualization server is the CITRIX HYPERVISOR provided by CitrixSystems, Inc., of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Hypervisor 302 may create one or more virtual machines 332B-C (generally332) in which guest operating systems 330 execute. In some embodiments,hypervisor 302 may load a virtual machine image to create a virtualmachine 332. In other embodiments, the hypervisor 302 may execute aguest operating system 330 within virtual machine 332. In still otherembodiments, virtual machine 332 may execute guest operating system 330.

In addition to creating virtual machines 332, hypervisor 302 may controlthe execution of at least one virtual machine 332. In other embodiments,hypervisor 302 may present at least one virtual machine 332 with anabstraction of at least one hardware resource provided by thevirtualization server 301 (e.g., any hardware resource available withinthe hardware layer 310). In other embodiments, hypervisor 302 maycontrol the manner in which virtual machines 332 access physicalprocessors 308 available in virtualization server 301. Controllingaccess to physical processors 308 may include determining whether avirtual machine 332 should have access to a processor 308, and howphysical processor capabilities are presented to the virtual machine332.

As shown in FIG. 3 , virtualization server 301 may host or execute oneor more virtual machines 332. A virtual machine 332 is a set ofexecutable instructions that, when executed by a processor 308, mayimitate the operation of a physical computer such that the virtualmachine 332 can execute programs and processes much like a physicalcomputing device. While FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment where avirtualization server 301 hosts three virtual machines 332, in otherembodiments virtualization server 301 can host any number of virtualmachines 332. Hypervisor 302, in some embodiments, may provide eachvirtual machine 332 with a unique virtual view of the physical hardware,memory, processor, and other system resources available to that virtualmachine 332. In some embodiments, the unique virtual view can be basedon one or more of virtual machine permissions, application of a policyengine to one or more virtual machine identifiers, a user accessing avirtual machine, the applications executing on a virtual machine,networks accessed by a virtual machine, or any other desired criteria.For instance, hypervisor 302 may create one or more unsecure virtualmachines 332 and one or more secure virtual machines 332. Unsecurevirtual machines 332 may be prevented from accessing resources,hardware, memory locations, and programs that secure virtual machines332 may be permitted to access. In other embodiments, hypervisor 302 mayprovide each virtual machine 332 with a substantially similar virtualview of the physical hardware, memory, processor, and other systemresources available to the virtual machines 332.

Each virtual machine 332 may include a virtual disk 326A-C (generally326) and a virtual processor 328A-C (generally 328.) The virtual disk326, in some embodiments, is a virtualized view of one or more physicaldisks 304 of the virtualization server 301, or a portion of one or morephysical disks 304 of the virtualization server 301. The virtualizedview of the physical disks 304 can be generated, provided, and managedby the hypervisor 302. In some embodiments, hypervisor 302 provides eachvirtual machine 332 with a unique view of the physical disks 304. Thus,in these embodiments, the particular virtual disk 326 included in eachvirtual machine 332 can be unique when compared with the other virtualdisks 326.

A virtual processor 328 can be a virtualized view of one or morephysical processors 308 of the virtualization server 301. In someembodiments, the virtualized view of the physical processors 308 can begenerated, provided, and managed by hypervisor 302. In some embodiments,virtual processor 328 has substantially all of the same characteristicsof at least one physical processor 308. In other embodiments, virtualprocessor 308 provides a modified view of physical processors 308 suchthat at least some of the characteristics of the virtual processor 328are different than the characteristics of the corresponding physicalprocessor 308.

With further reference to FIG. 4 , some aspects described herein may beimplemented in a cloud-based environment. FIG. 4 illustrates an exampleof a cloud computing environment (or cloud system) 400. As seen in FIG.4 , client computers 411-414 may communicate with a cloud managementserver 410 to access the computing resources (e.g., host servers 403a-403 b (generally referred herein as “host servers 403”), storageresources 404 a-404 b (generally referred herein as “storage resources404”), and network elements 405 a-405 b (generally referred herein as“network resources 405”)) of the cloud system.

Management server 410 may be implemented on one or more physicalservers. The management server 410 may run, for example, CITRIX CLOUD byCitrix Systems, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., or OPENSTACK, amongothers. Management server 410 may manage various computing resources,including cloud hardware and software resources, for example, hostcomputers 403, data storage devices 404, and networking devices 405. Thecloud hardware and software resources may include private and/or publiccomponents. For example, a cloud may be configured as a private cloud tobe used by one or more particular customers or client computers 411-414and/or over a private network. In other embodiments, public clouds orhybrid public-private clouds may be used by other customers over an openor hybrid networks.

Management server 410 may be configured to provide user interfacesthrough which cloud operators and cloud customers may interact with thecloud system 400. For example, the management server 410 may provide aset of application programming interfaces (APIs) and/or one or morecloud operator console applications (e.g., web-based or standaloneapplications) with user interfaces to allow cloud operators to managethe cloud resources, configure the virtualization layer, manage customeraccounts, and perform other cloud administration tasks. The managementserver 410 also may include a set of APIs and/or one or more customerconsole applications with user interfaces configured to receive cloudcomputing requests from end users via client computers 411-414, forexample, requests to create, modify, or destroy virtual machines withinthe cloud. Client computers 411-414 may connect to management server 410via the Internet or some other communication network, and may requestaccess to one or more of the computing resources managed by managementserver 410. In response to client requests, the management server 410may include a resource manager configured to select and provisionphysical resources in the hardware layer of the cloud system based onthe client requests. For example, the management server 410 andadditional components of the cloud system may be configured toprovision, create, and manage virtual machines and their operatingenvironments (e.g., hypervisors, storage resources, services offered bythe network elements, etc.) for customers at client computers 411-414,over a network (e.g., the Internet), providing customers withcomputational resources, data storage services, networking capabilities,and computer platform and application support. Cloud systems also may beconfigured to provide various specific services, including securitysystems, development environments, user interfaces, and the like.

Certain clients 411-414 may be related, for example, to different clientcomputers creating virtual machines on behalf of the same end user, ordifferent users affiliated with the same company or organization. Inother examples, certain clients 411-414 may be unrelated, such as usersaffiliated with different companies or organizations. For unrelatedclients, information on the virtual machines or storage of any one usermay be hidden from other users.

Referring now to the physical hardware layer of a cloud computingenvironment, availability zones 401-402 (or zones) may refer to acollocated set of physical computing resources. Zones may begeographically separated from other zones in the overall cloud ofcomputing resources. For example, zone 401 may be a first clouddatacenter located in California, and zone 402 may be a second clouddatacenter located in Florida. Management server 410 may be located atone of the availability zones, or at a separate location. Each zone mayinclude an internal network that interfaces with devices that areoutside of the zone, such as the management server 410, through agateway. End users of the cloud (e.g., clients 411-414) might or mightnot be aware of the distinctions between zones. For example, an end usermay request the creation of a virtual machine having a specified amountof memory, processing power, and network capabilities. The managementserver 410 may respond to the user's request and may allocate theresources to create the virtual machine without the user knowing whetherthe virtual machine was created using resources from zone 401 or zone402. In other examples, the cloud system may allow end users to requestthat virtual machines (or other cloud resources) are allocated in aspecific zone or on specific resources 403-405 within a zone.

In this example, each zone 401-402 may include an arrangement of variousphysical hardware components (or computing resources) 403-405, forexample, physical hosting resources (or processing resources), physicalnetwork resources, physical storage resources, switches, and additionalhardware resources that may be used to provide cloud computing servicesto customers. The physical hosting resources in a cloud zone 401-402 mayinclude one or more computer servers 403, such as the virtualizationservers 301 described above, which may be configured to create and hostvirtual machine instances. The physical network resources in a cloudzone 401 or 402 may include one or more network elements 405 (e.g.,network service providers) comprising hardware and/or softwareconfigured to provide a network service to cloud customers, such asfirewalls, network address translators, load balancers, virtual privatenetwork (VPN) gateways, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)routers, and the like. The storage resources in the cloud zone 401-402may include storage disks (e.g., solid state drives (SSDs), magnetichard disks, etc.) and other storage devices.

The example cloud computing environment shown in FIG. 4 also may includea virtualization layer (e.g., as shown in FIGS. 1-3 ) with additionalhardware and/or software resources configured to create and managevirtual machines and provide other services to customers using thephysical resources in the cloud. The virtualization layer may includehypervisors, as described above in FIG. 3 , along with other componentsto provide network virtualizations, storage virtualizations, etc. Thevirtualization layer may be as a separate layer from the physicalresource layer, or may share some or all of the same hardware and/orsoftware resources with the physical resource layer. For example, thevirtualization layer may include a hypervisor installed in each of thevirtualization servers 403 with the physical computing resources. Knowncloud systems may alternatively be used, e.g., WINDOWS AZURE (MicrosoftCorporation of Redmond Wash.), AMAZON EC2 (Amazon.com Inc. of Seattle,Wash.), IBM BLUE CLOUD (IBM Corporation of Armonk, N.Y.), or others.

Enterprise Mobility Management Architecture

FIG. 5 represents an enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 foruse in a “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) environment. The architectureenables a user of a mobile device 502 to both access enterprise orpersonal resources from a mobile device 502 and use the mobile device502 for personal use. The user may access such enterprise resources 504or enterprise services 508 using a mobile device 502 that is purchasedby the user or a mobile device 502 that is provided by the enterprise tothe user. The user may utilize the mobile device 502 for business useonly or for business and personal use. The mobile device 502 may run aniOS operating system, an Android operating system, or the like. Theenterprise may choose to implement policies to manage the mobile device502. The policies may be implemented through a firewall or gateway insuch a way that the mobile device 502 may be identified, secured orsecurity verified, and provided selective or full access to theenterprise resources (e.g., 504 and 508.) The policies may be mobiledevice management policies, mobile application management policies,mobile data management policies, or some combination of mobile device,application, and data management policies. A mobile device 502 that ismanaged through the application of mobile device management policies maybe referred to as an enrolled device.

In some embodiments, the operating system of the mobile device 502 maybe separated into a managed partition 510 and an unmanaged partition512. The managed partition 510 may have policies applied to it to securethe applications running on and data stored in the managed partition510. The applications running on the managed partition 510 may be secureapplications. In other embodiments, all applications may execute inaccordance with a set of one or more policy files received separate fromthe application, and which define one or more security parameters,features, resource restrictions, and/or other access controls that areenforced by the mobile device management system when that application isexecuting on the mobile device 502. By operating in accordance withtheir respective policy file(s), each application may be allowed orrestricted from communications with one or more other applicationsand/or resources, thereby creating a virtual partition. Thus, as usedherein, a partition may refer to a physically partitioned portion ofmemory (physical partition), a logically partitioned portion of memory(logical partition), and/or a virtual partition created as a result ofenforcement of one or more policies and/or policy files across multipleapplications as described herein (virtual partition). Stateddifferently, by enforcing policies on managed applications, thoseapplications may be restricted to only be able to communicate with othermanaged applications and trusted enterprise resources, thereby creatinga virtual partition that is not accessible by unmanaged applications anddevices.

The secure applications may be email applications, web browsingapplications, software-as-a-service (SaaS) access applications, WindowsApplication access applications, and the like. The secure applicationsmay be secure native applications 514, secure remote applications 522executed by a secure application launcher 518, virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518, and thelike. The secure native applications 514 may be wrapped by a secureapplication wrapper 520. The secure application wrapper 520 may includeintegrated policies that are executed on the mobile device 502 when thesecure native application 514 is executed on the mobile device 502. Thesecure application wrapper 520 may include meta-data that points thesecure native application 514 running on the mobile device 502 to theresources hosted at the enterprise (e.g., 504 and 508) that the securenative application 514 may require to complete the task requested uponexecution of the secure native application 514. The secure remoteapplications 522 executed by a secure application launcher 518 may beexecuted within the secure application launcher 518. The virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518 mayutilize resources on the mobile device 502, at the enterprise resources504, and the like.

The resources used on the mobile device 502 by the virtualizationapplications 526 executed by a secure application launcher 518 mayinclude user interaction resources, processing resources, and the like.The user interaction resources may be used to collect and transmitkeyboard input, mouse input, camera input, tactile input, audio input,visual input, gesture input, and the like. The processing resources maybe used to present a user interface, process data received from theenterprise resources 504, and the like. The resources used at theenterprise resources 504 by the virtualization applications 526 executedby a secure application launcher 518 may include user interfacegeneration resources, processing resources, and the like. The userinterface generation resources may be used to assemble a user interface,modify a user interface, refresh a user interface, and the like. Theprocessing resources may be used to create information, readinformation, update information, delete information, and the like. Forexample, the virtualization application 526 may record user interactionsassociated with a graphical user interface (GUI) and communicate them toa server application where the server application will use the userinteraction data as an input to the application operating on the server.In such an arrangement, an enterprise may elect to maintain theapplication on the server side as well as data, files, etc. associatedwith the application. While an enterprise may elect to “mobilize” someapplications in accordance with the principles herein by securing themfor deployment on the mobile device 502, this arrangement may also beelected for certain applications. For example, while some applicationsmay be secured for use on the mobile device 502, others might not beprepared or appropriate for deployment on the mobile device 502 so theenterprise may elect to provide the mobile user access to the unpreparedapplications through virtualization techniques. As another example, theenterprise may have large complex applications with large and complexdata sets (e.g., material resource planning applications) where it wouldbe very difficult, or otherwise undesirable, to customize theapplication for the mobile device 502 so the enterprise may elect toprovide access to the application through virtualization techniques. Asyet another example, the enterprise may have an application thatmaintains highly secured data (e.g., human resources data, customerdata, engineering data) that may be deemed by the enterprise as toosensitive for even the secured mobile environment so the enterprise mayelect to use virtualization techniques to permit mobile access to suchapplications and data. An enterprise may elect to provide both fullysecured and fully functional applications on the mobile device 502 aswell as a virtualization application 526 to allow access to applicationsthat are deemed more properly operated on the server side. In anembodiment, the virtualization application 526 may store some data,files, etc. on the mobile device 502 in one of the secure storagelocations. An enterprise, for example, may elect to allow certaininformation to be stored on the mobile device 502 while not permittingother information.

In connection with the virtualization application 526, as describedherein, the mobile device 502 may have a virtualization application 526that is designed to present GUIs and then record user interactions withthe GUI. The virtualization application 526 may communicate the userinteractions to the server side to be used by the server sideapplication as user interactions with the application. In response, theapplication on the server side may transmit back to the mobile device502 a new GUI. For example, the new GUI may be a static page, a dynamicpage, an animation, or the like, thereby providing access to remotelylocated resources.

The secure applications 514 may access data stored in a secure datacontainer 528 in the managed partition 510 of the mobile device 502. Thedata secured in the secure data container may be accessed by the securenative applications 514, secure remote applications 522 executed by asecure application launcher 518, virtualization applications 526executed by a secure application launcher 518, and the like. The datastored in the secure data container 528 may include files, databases,and the like. The data stored in the secure data container 528 mayinclude data restricted to a specific secure application 530, sharedamong secure applications 532, and the like. Data restricted to a secureapplication may include secure general data 534 and highly secure data538. Secure general data may use a strong form of encryption such asAdvanced Encryption Standard (AES) 128-bit encryption or the like, whilehighly secure data 538 may use a very strong form of encryption such asAES 256-bit encryption. Data stored in the secure data container 528 maybe deleted from the mobile device 502 upon receipt of a command from thedevice manager 524. The secure applications (e.g., 514, 522, and 526)may have a dual-mode option 540. The dual mode option 540 may presentthe user with an option to operate the secured application in anunsecured or unmanaged mode. In an unsecured or unmanaged mode, thesecure applications may access data stored in an unsecured datacontainer 542 on the unmanaged partition 512 of the mobile device 502.The data stored in an unsecured data container may be personal data 544.The data stored in an unsecured data container 542 may also be accessedby unsecured applications 546 that are running on the unmanagedpartition 512 of the mobile device 502. The data stored in an unsecureddata container 542 may remain on the mobile device 502 when the datastored in the secure data container 528 is deleted from the mobiledevice 502. An enterprise may want to delete from the mobile device 502selected or all data, files, and/or applications owned, licensed orcontrolled by the enterprise (enterprise data) while leaving orotherwise preserving personal data, files, and/or applications owned,licensed or controlled by the user (personal data). This operation maybe referred to as a selective wipe. With the enterprise and personaldata arranged in accordance to the aspects described herein, anenterprise may perform a selective wipe.

The mobile device 502 may connect to enterprise resources 504 andenterprise services 508 at an enterprise, to the public Internet 548,and the like. The mobile device 502 may connect to enterprise resources504 and enterprise services 508 through virtual private networkconnections. The virtual private network connections, also referred toas microVPN or application-specific VPN, may be specific to particularapplications (as illustrated by microVPNs 550, particular devices,particular secured areas on the mobile device (as illustrated by O/S VPN552), and the like. For example, each of the wrapped applications in thesecured area of the mobile device 502 may access enterprise resourcesthrough an application specific VPN such that access to the VPN would begranted based on attributes associated with the application, possibly inconjunction with user or device attribute information. The virtualprivate network connections may carry Microsoft Exchange traffic,Microsoft Active Directory traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)traffic, HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) traffic, applicationmanagement traffic, and the like. The virtual private networkconnections may support and enable single-sign-on authenticationprocesses 554. The single-sign-on processes may allow a user to providea single set of authentication credentials, which are then verified byan authentication service 558. The authentication service 558 may thengrant to the user access to multiple enterprise resources 504, withoutrequiring the user to provide authentication credentials to eachindividual enterprise resource 504.

The virtual private network connections may be established and managedby an access gateway 560. The access gateway 560 may include performanceenhancement features that manage, accelerate, and improve the deliveryof enterprise resources 504 to the mobile device 502. The access gateway560 may also re-route traffic from the mobile device 502 to the publicInternet 548, enabling the mobile device 502 to access publiclyavailable and unsecured applications that run on the public Internet548. The mobile device 502 may connect to the access gateway via atransport network 562. The transport network 562 may use one or moretransport protocols and may be a wired network, wireless network, cloudnetwork, local area network, metropolitan area network, wide areanetwork, public network, private network, and the like.

The enterprise resources 504 may include email servers, file sharingservers, SaaS applications, Web application servers, Windows applicationservers, and the like. Email servers may include Exchange servers, LotusNotes servers, and the like. File sharing servers may include ShareFileservers, and the like. SaaS applications may include Salesforce, and thelike. Windows application servers may include any application serverthat is built to provide applications that are intended to run on alocal Windows operating system, and the like. The enterprise resources504 may be premise-based resources, cloud-based resources, and the like.The enterprise resources 504 may be accessed by the mobile device 502directly or through the access gateway 560. The enterprise resources 504may be accessed by the mobile device 502 via the transport network 562.

The enterprise services 508 may include authentication services 558,threat detection services 564, device manager services 524, file sharingservices 568, policy manager services 570, social integration services572, application controller services 574, and the like. Authenticationservices 558 may include user authentication services, deviceauthentication services, application authentication services, dataauthentication services, and the like. Authentication services 558 mayuse certificates. The certificates may be stored on the mobile device502, by the enterprise resources 504, and the like. The certificatesstored on the mobile device 502 may be stored in an encrypted locationon the mobile device 502, the certificate may be temporarily stored onthe mobile device 502 for use at the time of authentication, and thelike. Threat detection services 564 may include intrusion detectionservices, unauthorized access attempt detection services, and the like.Unauthorized access attempt detection services may include unauthorizedattempts to access devices, applications, data, and the like. Devicemanagement services 524 may include configuration, provisioning,security, support, monitoring, reporting, and decommissioning services.File sharing services 568 may include file management services, filestorage services, file collaboration services, and the like. Policymanager services 570 may include device policy manager services,application policy manager services, data policy manager services, andthe like. Social integration services 572 may include contactintegration services, collaboration services, integration with socialnetworks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and the like.Application controller services 574 may include management services,provisioning services, deployment services, assignment services,revocation services, wrapping services, and the like.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include anapplication store 578. The application store 578 may include unwrappedapplications 580, pre-wrapped applications 582, and the like.Applications may be populated in the application store 578 from theapplication controller 574. The application store 578 may be accessed bythe mobile device 502 through the access gateway 560, through the publicInternet 548, or the like. The application store 578 may be providedwith an intuitive and easy to use user interface.

A software development kit 584 may provide a user the capability tosecure applications selected by the user by wrapping the application asdescribed previously in this description. An application that has beenwrapped using the software development kit 584 may then be madeavailable to the mobile device 502 by populating it in the applicationstore 578 using the application controller 574.

The enterprise mobility technical architecture 500 may include amanagement and analytics capability 588. The management and analyticscapability 588 may provide information related to how resources areused, how often resources are used, and the like. Resources may includedevices, applications, data, and the like. How resources are used mayinclude which devices download which applications, which applicationsaccess which data, and the like. How often resources are used mayinclude how often an application has been downloaded, how many times aspecific set of data has been accessed by an application, and the like.

FIG. 6 is another illustrative enterprise mobility management system600. Some of the components of the mobility management system 500described above with reference to FIG. 5 have been omitted for the sakeof simplicity. The architecture of the system 600 depicted in FIG. 6 issimilar in many respects to the architecture of the system 500 describedabove with reference to FIG. 5 and may include additional features notmentioned above.

In this case, the left hand side represents an enrolled mobile device602 with a client agent 604, which interacts with gateway server 606(which includes Access Gateway and application controller functionality)to access various enterprise resources 608 and services 609 such asExchange, Sharepoint, public-key infrastructure (PKI) Resources,Kerberos Resources, Certificate Issuance service, as shown on the righthand side above. Although not specifically shown, the mobile device 602may also interact with an enterprise application store (StoreFront) forthe selection and downloading of applications.

The client agent 604 acts as the UI (user interface) intermediary forWindows apps/desktops hosted in an Enterprise data center, which areaccessed using the High-Definition User Experience (HDX)/ICA displayremoting protocol. The client agent 604 also supports the installationand management of native applications on the mobile device 602, such asnative iOS or Android applications. For example, the managedapplications 610 (mail, browser, wrapped application) shown in thefigure above are all native applications that execute locally on themobile device 602. Client agent 604 and application management frameworkof this architecture act to provide policy driven managementcapabilities and features such as connectivity and SSO (single sign on)to enterprise resources/services 608. The client agent 604 handlesprimary user authentication to the enterprise, normally to AccessGateway (AG) 606 with SSO to other gateway server components. The clientagent 604 obtains policies from gateway server 606 to control thebehavior of the managed applications 610 on the mobile device 602.

The Secure InterProcess Communication (IPC) links 612 between the nativeapplications 610 and client agent 604 represent a management channel,which may allow a client agent to supply policies to be enforced by theapplication management framework 614 “wrapping” each application. TheIPC channel 612 may also allow client agent 604 to supply credential andauthentication information that enables connectivity and SSO toenterprise resources 608. Finally, the IPC channel 612 may allow theapplication management framework 614 to invoke user interface functionsimplemented by client agent 604, such as online and offlineauthentication.

Communications between the client agent 604 and gateway server 606 areessentially an extension of the management channel from the applicationmanagement framework 614 wrapping each native managed application 610.The application management framework 614 may request policy informationfrom client agent 604, which in turn may request it from gateway server606. The application management framework 614 may requestauthentication, and client agent 604 may log into the gateway servicespart of gateway server 606 (for example, CITRIX GATEWAY). Client agent604 may also call supporting services on gateway server 606, which mayproduce input material to derive encryption keys for the local datavaults 616, or may provide client certificates which may enable directauthentication to PKI protected resources, as more fully explainedbelow.

In more detail, the application management framework 614 “wraps” eachmanaged application 610. This may be incorporated via an explicit buildstep, or via a post-build processing step. The application managementframework 614 may “pair” with client agent 604 on first launch of anapplication 610 to initialize the Secure IPC channel 612 and obtain thepolicy for that application. The application management framework 614may enforce relevant portions of the policy that apply locally, such asthe client agent login dependencies and some of the containment policiesthat restrict how local OS services may be used, or how they mayinteract with the managed application 610.

The application management framework 614 may use services provided byclient agent 604 over the Secure IPC channel 612 to facilitateauthentication and internal network access. Key management for theprivate and shared data vaults 616 (containers) may be also managed byappropriate interactions between the managed applications 610 and clientagent 604. Vaults 616 may be available only after online authentication,or may be made available after offline authentication if allowed bypolicy. First use of vaults 616 may require online authentication, andoffline access may be limited to at most the policy refresh periodbefore online authentication is again required.

Network access to internal resources may occur directly from individualmanaged applications 610 through Access Gateway 606. The applicationmanagement framework 614 may be responsible for orchestrating thenetwork access on behalf of each managed application 610. Client agent604 may facilitate these network connections by providing suitable timelimited secondary credentials obtained following online authentication.Multiple modes of network connection may be used, such as reverse webproxy connections and end-to-end VPN-style tunnels 618.

The Mail and Browser managed applications 610 have special status andmay make use of facilities that might not be generally available toarbitrary wrapped applications. For example, the Mail application 610may use a special background network access mechanism that allows it toaccess an Exchange server 608 over an extended period of time withoutrequiring a full AG logon. The Browser application 610 may use multipleprivate data vaults 616 to segregate different kinds of data.

This architecture may support the incorporation of various othersecurity features. For example, gateway server 606 (including itsgateway services) in some cases may not need to validate activedirectory (AD) passwords. It can be left to the discretion of anenterprise whether an AD password may be used as an authenticationfactor for some users in some situations. Different authenticationmethods may be used if a user is online or offline (i.e., connected ornot connected to a network).

Step up authentication is a feature wherein gateway server 606 mayidentify managed native applications 610 that are allowed to have accessto highly classified data requiring strong authentication, and ensurethat access to these applications is only permitted after performingappropriate authentication, even if this means a re-authentication isrequired by the user after a prior weaker level of login.

Another security feature of this solution is the encryption of the datavaults 616 (containers) on the mobile device 602. The vaults 616 may beencrypted so that all on-device data including files, databases, andconfigurations are protected. For on-line vaults, the keys may be storedon the server (gateway server 606), and for off-line vaults, a localcopy of the keys may be protected by a user password or biometricvalidation. If or when data is stored locally on the mobile device 602in the secure container 616, it may be preferred that a minimum of AES256 encryption algorithm be utilized.

Other secure container features may also be implemented. For example, alogging feature may be included, wherein security events happeninginside a managed application 610 may be logged and reported to thebackend. Data wiping may be supported, such as if or when the managedapplication 610 detects tampering, associated encryption keys may bewritten over with random data, leaving no hint on the file system thatuser data was destroyed. Screenshot protection may be another feature,where an application may prevent any data from being stored inscreenshots. For example, the key window's hidden property may be set toYES. This may cause whatever content is currently displayed on thescreen to be hidden, resulting in a blank screenshot where any contentwould normally reside.

Local data transfer may be prevented, such as by preventing any datafrom being locally transferred outside the application container, e.g.,by copying it or sending it to an external application. A keyboard cachefeature may operate to disable the autocorrect functionality forsensitive text fields. SSL certificate validation may be operable so theapplication specifically validates the server SSL certificate instead ofit being stored in the keychain. An encryption key generation featuremay be used such that the key used to encrypt data on the mobile device602 is generated using a passphrase or biometric data supplied by theuser (if offline access is required). It may be XORed with another keyrandomly generated and stored on the server side if offline access isnot required. Key Derivation functions may operate such that keysgenerated from the user password use KDFs (key derivation functions,notably Password-Based Key Derivation Function 2 (PBKDF2)) rather thancreating a cryptographic hash of it. The latter makes a key susceptibleto brute force or dictionary attacks.

Further, one or more initialization vectors may be used in encryptionmethods. An initialization vector will cause multiple copies of the sameencrypted data to yield different cipher text output, preventing bothreplay and cryptanalytic attacks. This will also prevent an attackerfrom decrypting any data even with a stolen encryption key. Further,authentication then decryption may be used, wherein application data isdecrypted only after the user has authenticated within the application.Another feature may relate to sensitive data in memory, which may bekept in memory (and not in disk) only when it's needed. For example,login credentials may be wiped from memory after login, and encryptionkeys and other data inside objective-C instance variables are notstored, as they may be easily referenced. Instead, memory may bemanually allocated for these.

An inactivity timeout may be implemented, wherein after a policy-definedperiod of inactivity, a user session is terminated.

Data leakage from the application management framework 614 may beprevented in other ways. For example, if or when a managed application610 is put in the background, the memory may be cleared after apredetermined (configurable) time period. When backgrounded, a snapshotmay be taken of the last displayed screen of the application to fastenthe foregrounding process. The screenshot may contain confidential dataand hence should be cleared.

Another security feature may relate to the use of an OTP (one timepassword) 620 without the use of an AD (active directory) 622 passwordfor access to one or more applications. In some cases, some users do notknow (or are not permitted to know) their AD password, so these usersmay authenticate using an OTP 620 such as by using a hardware OTP systemlike SecurID (OTPs may be provided by different vendors also, such asEntrust or Gemalto). In some cases, after a user authenticates with auser ID, a text may be sent to the user with an OTP 620. In some cases,this may be implemented only for online use, with a prompt being asingle field.

An offline password may be implemented for offline authentication forthose managed applications 610 for which offline use is permitted viaenterprise policy. For example, an enterprise may want StoreFront to beaccessed in this manner. In this case, the client agent 604 may requirethe user to set a custom offline password and the AD password is notused. Gateway server 606 may provide policies to control and enforcepassword standards with respect to the minimum length, character classcomposition, and age of passwords, such as described by the standardWindows Server password complexity requirements, although theserequirements may be modified.

Another feature may relate to the enablement of a client sidecertificate for certain applications 610 as secondary credentials (forthe purpose of accessing PKI protected web resources via the applicationmanagement framework micro VPN feature). For example, a managedapplication 610 may utilize such a certificate. In this case,certificate-based authentication using ActiveSync protocol may besupported, wherein a certificate from the client agent 604 may beretrieved by gateway server 606 and used in a keychain. Each managedapplication 610 may have one associated client certificate, identifiedby a label that is defined in gateway server 606.

Gateway server 606 may interact with an enterprise special purpose webservice to support the issuance of client certificates to allow relevantmanaged applications to authenticate to internal PKI protectedresources.

The client agent 604 and the application management framework 614 may beenhanced to support obtaining and using client certificates forauthentication to internal PKI protected network resources. More thanone certificate may be supported, such as to match various levels ofsecurity and/or separation requirements. The certificates may be used bythe Mail and Browser managed applications 610, and ultimately byarbitrary wrapped applications 610 (provided those applications use webservice style communication patterns where it is reasonable for theapplication management framework to mediate HTTPS requests).

Application management client certificate support on iOS may rely onimporting a public-key cryptography standards (PKCS) 12 BLOB (BinaryLarge Object) into the iOS keychain in each managed application 610 foreach period of use. Application management framework client certificatesupport may use a HTTPS implementation with private in-memory keystorage. The client certificate may not be present in the iOS keychainand may not be persisted except potentially in “online-only” data valuethat is strongly protected.

Mutual SSL or TLS may also be implemented to provide additional securityby requiring that a mobile device 602 is authenticated to theenterprise, and vice versa. Virtual smart cards for authentication togateway server 606 may also be implemented.

Another feature may relate to application container locking and wiping,which may automatically occur upon jail-break or rooting detections, andoccur as a pushed command from administration console, and may include aremote wipe functionality even when a managed application 610 is notrunning.

A multi-site architecture or configuration of enterprise applicationstore and an application controller may be supported that allows usersto be serviced from one of several different locations in case offailure.

In some cases, managed applications 610 may be allowed to access acertificate and private key via an API (for example, OpenSSL). Trustedmanaged applications 610 of an enterprise may be allowed to performspecific Public Key operations with an application's client certificateand private key. Various use cases may be identified and treatedaccordingly, such as if or when an application behaves like a browserand no certificate access is required, if or when an application reads acertificate for “who am I,” if or when an application uses thecertificate to build a secure session token, and if or when anapplication uses private keys for digital signing of important data(e.g. transaction log) or for temporary data encryption.

Transforming Validated User Interface Layouts Using Inter-PlatformDesign Mapping Data

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative computing environment for transformingvalidated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mappingdata in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein. Referring to FIG. 7 , computing environment 700 may include afirst user interface design computing device 710, a second userinterface design computing device 720, an interface guidelines server730, an interface layouts server 740, and a network 750. User interfacedesign computing device 710, user interface design computing device 720,interface guidelines server 730, and interface layouts server 740 mayinclude one or more physical components, such as one or more processors,memories, communication interfaces, and/or the like. In some instances,user interface design computing device 710 and user interface designcomputing device 720 may include, incorporate, and/or implement one ormore aspects of the client devices, mobile devices, and/or user devicesdiscussed above. Interface guidelines server 730 and interface layoutsserver 740 may include, incorporate, and/or implement one or moreaspects of the enterprise systems and/or management servers discussedabove. Additionally or alternatively, interface guidelines server 730and interface layouts server 740 may include, incorporate, and/orimplement one or more aspects of the virtualization servers and/or othervirtualization infrastructure discussed above and/or may communicatewith one or more enterprise systems that include, incorporate, and/orimplement one or more aspects of the virtualization servers and/or othervirtualization infrastructure discussed above.

For example, user interface design computing device 710 may include atleast one processor 711, at least one memory 712, and at least onecommunication interface 714. Processor 711 may execute instructionsstored in memory 712 that cause user interface design computing device710 to perform one or more functions, such as transforming validateduser interface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data and/orperforming other functions, as described in greater detail below. Memory712 may store at least one user interface design module 713, which mayinclude instructions that enable user interface design computing device710 to provide one or more of these functions and/or other functionsdescribed below. Communication interface 714 may include one or morenetwork interfaces via which user interface design computing device 710can communicate with one or more other systems and/or devices incomputing environment 700, such as user interface design computingdevice 720, interface guidelines server 730, interface layouts server740, and/or one or more other systems and/or devices.

In some instances, user interface design computing device 710 may be auser computing device that is used by a first user (who may, e.g., be asoftware application developer and/or a user interface designer). Userinterface design computing device 720 may be a user computing devicethat is used by a second user (who may, e.g., be a software applicationdeveloper and/or a user interface designer) different from the firstuser. Interface guidelines server 730 may be a server computing devicethat stores and/or maintains interface mapping data (which may, e.g., beused in transforming user interface layouts between different platforms,as described below). Interface layouts server 740 may be a servercomputing device that stores and/or maintains user interface layoutinformation (which may, e.g., also be generated when transforming userinterface layouts between different platforms, as described below).Network 750 may include one or more local area networks, wide areanetworks, public networks, private networks, and/or sub-networks and mayinterconnect user interface design computing device 710, user interfacedesign computing device 720, interface guidelines server 730, andinterface layouts server 740.

FIGS. 8A and 8B depict an example event sequence for transformingvalidated user interface layouts using inter-platform design mappingdata in accordance with one or more illustrative aspects describedherein. Referring to FIG. 8A, at step 801, user interface designcomputing device 710 may load source mockup data. For example, at step801, user interface design computing device 710 may load source mockupdata defining a first validated user interface layout associated with afirst set of user interface design guidelines. The user interface designguidelines may, for instance, define rules for appearance and/orbehavior of various user interface elements that must be followed on aspecific platform to which the guidelines are applicable. Suchguidelines may, for instance, be defined by the creator of the platform(which may, e.g., be an operating system, such as IOS or ANDROID) and/ormay be defined by a developer of the framework(s) being used by aparticular application. An example set of guidelines (which may, e.g.,define properties for various types of user interface elements) isillustrated in the following table:

TABLE A Example User Interface Design Guidelines Value of Source ElementType Property Platform Standard Text outside Color Grey Button FontFamily Calibri Font Weight 400 Font size  25 px Button Color Blue Width150 px Height  40 px Text within Button Color White Font Family CalibriFont Weight 400 Padding - Sides  40 px Font size  20 px Standard Textoutside Color Grey Button Font Family Calibri Font Weight 400 Font size 25 px Button Color Grey Width 150 px Height  40 px Text within ButtonColor White Font Family Calibri Font Weight 400 Padding - Sides  40 pxFont size  20 px Navigation Bar Icon Color Black Form Item Width Fullwidth of screen Navigation Bar Width Full width of screen

In some instances, a particular user interface layout may be deemed“validated” based on the particular user interface layout complying withany and/or all rules specified in an applicable set of user interfacedesign guidelines. For example, the first validated user interfacelayout (which may, e.g., be loaded at step 801) may be considered“validated” because it complies with any and/or all of the rulesspecified in the first set of user interface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, loading the source mockup data defining the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines may include receiving the source mockup datafrom a graphic design application executing on the computing device. Forexample, in loading the source mockup data defining the first validateduser interface layout associated with the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines (e.g., at step 801), user interface design computingdevice 710 may receive the source mockup data from a graphic designapplication executing on user interface design computing device 710.Such a graphic design application may provide drawing tools and userinterface element templates that allow a designer to create a userinterface layout.

At step 802, user interface design computing device 710 may present thefirst validated user interface layout associated with the first set ofuser interface design guidelines. For example, at step 802, userinterface design computing device 710 may present the first validateduser interface layout (which may, e.g., have been created by a userinterface designer and/or otherwise loaded at step 801). In presentingthe first validated user interface layout associated with the first setof user interface design guidelines at step 802, user interface designcomputing device 710 may display and/or otherwise present a graphicaluser interface similar to graphical user interface 900, which isillustrated in FIG. 9 . As seen in FIG. 9 , graphical user interface 900may include one or more images, text content areas, buttons, and/orother user interface elements.

At step 803, user interface design computing device 710 may receive arequest to convert the first validated user interface layout associatedwith the first set of user interface design guidelines. For instance,user interface design computing device 710 may receive a request toconvert the first validated user interface layout associated with thefirst set of user interface design guidelines into a new layout that iscompliant with a different set of user interface design guidelines. Thisdifferent set of user interface design guidelines may, for example,define user interface appearance and/or behavior rules for a differentoperating system or platform (e.g., than the operating system orplatform to which the first set of user interface design guidelinesapplies) and/or for a different display resolution (e.g., than thedisplay resolution or screen size to which the first set of userinterface design guidelines applies). For instance, user interfacedesign computing device 710 may receive a request to convert the userinterface layout from an IOS-compliant format to an ANDROID-compliantformat, from a phone-compliant format to a tablet-compliant format, orthe like.

At step 804, user interface design computing device 710 may loadinterface mapping data. For example, at step 804, user interface designcomputing device 710 may load interface mapping data definingrelationships between first user interface elements associated with thefirst set of user interface design guidelines and second user interfaceelements associated with a second set of user interface designguidelines different from the first set of user interface designguidelines. For instance, the interface mapping data may define,element-by-element, how specific user interface properties, features,and behaviors in one platform map onto and/or otherwise correspond tospecific user interface properties, features, and behaviors in anotherplatform. Such interface mapping data may be predefined by one or moreadministrative users, for instance, and may be stored on one or moreservers (e.g., interface guidelines server 730). An example set ofinterface mapping data (which may, e.g., define relationships betweenspecific user interface elements in different platforms, for instance, asource platform and a target platform) is illustrated in the followingtable:

TABLE B Example Interface Mapping Data Value of Source Value of TargetElement Type Property Platform Platform Button Color Blue Green Width150 px 140 px Height  40 px  30 px Text within Color White White ButtonFont Family Calibri Arial Font Weight 400 300 Padding - Sides  40 px  30px Font size  20 px  15 px Standard Text Color Grey Black outside ButtonFont Family Calibri Arial Font Weight 400 300 Font size  25 px  20 pxForm Text Color Grey Black Font Weight 300 px 400 px Font Size  20 px 15 px Font Family Calibri Arial Title Text Color Blue Green Font Weight400 300 Font Size  30 px  20 px Font Family Calibri Arial Form IconColor Grey Black Navigation Color Black Grey Bar Icon Form Item WidthFull width Full width of screen of screen Navigation Bar Width Fullwidth Full width of screen of screen

In some embodiments, loading the interface mapping data defining therelationships between the first user interface elements associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines and the second userinterface elements associated with the second set of user interfacedesign guidelines different from the first set of user interface designguidelines may include receiving the interface mapping data from aserver maintaining a plurality of datasets defining a plurality of userinterface design guidelines. For example, in loading the interfacemapping data defining the relationships between the first user interfaceelements associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines and the second user interface elements associated with thesecond set of user interface design guidelines different from the firstset of user interface design guidelines at step 804, user interfacedesign computing device 710 may receive the interface mapping data froma server (e.g., interface guidelines server 730) maintaining a pluralityof datasets defining a plurality of user interface design guidelines.

In some embodiments, loading the interface mapping data defining therelationships between the first user interface elements associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines and the second userinterface elements associated with the second set of user interfacedesign guidelines different from the first set of user interface designguidelines may include requesting the interface mapping data from theserver based on detecting that the first validated user interface layoutdefined by the source mockup data complies with a plurality of rulesspecified by the first set of user interface design guidelines. Forexample, in loading the interface mapping data defining therelationships between the first user interface elements associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines and the second userinterface elements associated with the second set of user interfacedesign guidelines different from the first set of user interface designguidelines at step 804, user interface design computing device 710 mayrequest the interface mapping data from the server (e.g., interfaceguidelines server 730) based on detecting that the first validated userinterface layout defined by the source mockup data complies with aplurality of rules specified by the first set of user interface designguidelines. For instance, the request received at step 803 might onlyidentify the target platform into which the user interface layout is tobe converted, and user interface design computing device 710 maydetermine the source platform of the user interface and mayautomatically request the interface mapping data (which may, e.g.,relate user interface elements between the source platform and thetarget platform) based on detecting and/or otherwise determining thatthe user interface layout complies with rules specified by a set ofdesign guidelines corresponding to the source platform.

In some embodiments, the interface mapping data may relate userinterface properties associated with a first operating system to userinterface properties associated with a second operating system differentfrom the first operating system. For example, the interface mapping data(which may, e.g., be loaded by user interface design computing device710 at step 804) may relate user interface properties associated with afirst operating system to user interface properties associated with asecond operating system different from the first operating system. Forinstance, the interface mapping data (which may, e.g., be loaded by userinterface design computing device 710 at step 804) may includeinformation indicating that specific colors, shapes, font settings,screen positioning relationships, behaviors, and/or other user interfacefeatures of a layout in one operating system correspond to specificcolors, shapes, font settings, screen positioning relationships,behaviors, and/or other user interface features of the layout in anotheroperating system.

In some embodiments, the interface mapping data may relate userinterface properties associated with a first display resolution to userinterface properties associated with a second display resolutiondifferent from the first display resolution. For example, the interfacemapping data (which may, e.g., be loaded by user interface designcomputing device 710 at step 804) may relate user interface propertiesassociated with a first display resolution to user interface propertiesassociated with a second display resolution different from the firstdisplay resolution. For instance, the interface mapping data (which may,e.g., be loaded by user interface design computing device 710 at step804) may include information indicating that specific colors, shapes,font settings, screen positioning relationships, behaviors, and/or otheruser interface features of a layout at one display resolution (ordisplay screen size) correspond to specific colors, shapes, fontsettings, screen positioning relationships, behaviors, and/or other userinterface features of the layout at another display resolution (ordisplay screen size).

Referring to FIG. 8B, at step 805, user interface design computingdevice 710 may transform the source mockup data. For example, at step805, user interface design computing device 710 may transform the sourcemockup data defining the first validated user interface layoutassociated with the first set of user interface design guidelines basedon the interface mapping data to produce target mockup data defining asecond validated user interface layout associated with the second set ofuser interface design guidelines. For instance, user interface designcomputing device 710 may transform the user interface layout from oneplatform to another by converting each element, property, or otherfeature in the layout on the source platform into a correspondingelement, property, or other feature on the target platform using therelationships defined in the interface mapping data described above.

In some embodiments, transforming the source mockup data defining thefirst validated user interface layout associated with the first set ofuser interface design guidelines based on the interface mapping data toproduce the target mockup data defining the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines may include: identifying elements in the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines; and converting the elements identified in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines into corresponding elements of the secondvalidated user interface layout associated with the second set of userinterface design guidelines based on the relationships defined in theinterface mapping data. For example, in transforming the source mockupdata defining the first validated user interface layout associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines based on the interfacemapping data to produce the target mockup data defining the secondvalidated user interface layout associated with the second set of userinterface design guidelines at step 805, user interface design computingdevice 710 may identify elements in the first validated user interfacelayout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines. In identifying these elements, user interface designcomputing device 710 may, for instance, generate a list of all elementspresent in the first validated user interface layout associated with thefirst set of user interface design guidelines. Subsequently, userinterface design computing device 710 may convert the elementsidentified in the first validated user interface layout associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines into correspondingelements of the second validated user interface layout associated withthe second set of user interface design guidelines based on therelationships defined in the interface mapping data. In converting theidentified elements, user interface design computing device 710 may, forinstance, generate the second validated user interface layout associatedwith the second set of user interface design guidelines by creating, foreach element in the first validated user interface layout associatedwith the first set of user interface design guidelines, a correspondingelement in the second validated user interface layout associated withthe second set of user interface design guidelines, where thecorresponding element complies with any and/or all rules imposed by thesecond set of user interface design guidelines. For example, userinterface design computing device 710 may convert each identifiedelement and/or layer in the source layout into a corresponding elementand/or layer in the target layer, while maintaining parent-childrelationships between user interface elements and working from theoutside of the mockup inwards.

In some embodiments, identifying the elements in the first validateduser interface layout associated with the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines may include identifying the elements in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines based on a plurality of labels correspondingto the elements in the first validated user interface layout. Forexample, in identifying the elements in the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines, user interface design computing device 710 may identify theelements in the first validated user interface layout associated withthe first set of user interface design guidelines based on a pluralityof labels corresponding to the elements in the first validated userinterface layout. For instance, user interface design computing device710 may determine the identities of various elements in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines based on element names, layer names, and/orother data labels included in metadata associated with the drawing ofthe user interface layout. For instance, user interface design computingdevice 710 may identify buttons in the source layout based onidentifying labels corresponding to such buttons (e.g., “button_OK” and“button_CANCEL”).

In some embodiments, identifying the elements in the first validateduser interface layout associated with the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines may include identifying the elements in the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines based on analyzing an image of the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines. For example, in identifying the elements inthe first validated user interface layout associated with the first setof user interface design guidelines, user interface design computingdevice 710 may identify the elements in the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines based on analyzing an image of the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines. For instance, user interface design computing device 710 maydetermine the identities of various elements in the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines based on executing an edge detection algorithm thatautomatically identifies the elements based on graphical data associatedwith the drawing of the user interface layout.

In some embodiments, the first set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a first plurality of rules for user interfaces on a firstoperating system, and the second set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a second plurality of rules for user interfaces on a secondoperating system different from the first operating system. For example,the first set of user interface design guidelines (e.g., associated withthe source layout) may specify a first plurality of rules for userinterfaces on a first operating system (e.g., IOS), and the second setof user interface design guidelines (e.g., associated with the targetlayout) may specify a second plurality of rules for user interfaces on asecond operating system (e.g., ANDROID) different from the firstoperating system. In some instances, the first operating system and thesecond operating system may be different types of mobile operatingsystems. In some instances, the first operating system may be a mobileoperating system and the second operating system may be a desktopoperating system, or vice versa. In some instances, the first operatingsystem and the second operating system may be different types of mobileoperating systems, desktop operating systems, or web applicationoperating systems.

In some embodiments, the first set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a first plurality of rules for user interfaces rendered at afirst resolution, and the second set of user interface design guidelinesmay specify a second plurality of rules for user interfaces rendered ata second resolution different from the first resolution. For example,the first set of user interface design guidelines may specify a firstplurality of rules for user interfaces rendered at a first resolution(e.g., smartphone screen resolution), and the second set of userinterface design guidelines may specify a second plurality of rules foruser interfaces rendered at a second resolution (e.g., tablet computerscreen resolution) different from the first resolution. In someinstances, the first resolution and the second resolution may correspondto different sizes of displays associated with different types ofcomputing devices (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, laptopcomputers, etc.).

At step 806, user interface design computing device 710 may store thetarget mockup data produced at step 805. For example, at step 806, userinterface design computing device 710 may store the target mockup datadefining the second validated user interface layout associated with thesecond set of user interface design guidelines. In some embodiments,storing the target mockup data defining the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines may include outputting the target mockup data to a graphicdesign application executing on the computing device. For example, instoring the target mockup data defining the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines at step 806, user interface design computing device 710 mayoutput the target mockup data to a graphic design application executingon user interface design computing device 710.

At step 807, user interface design computing device 710 may present thesecond validated user interface layout associated with the second set ofuser interface design guidelines. For example, at step 807, userinterface design computing device 710 may present, on a display screen,an image of the second validated user interface layout associated withthe second set of user interface design guidelines based on the targetmockup data. For instance, in an example where user interface designcomputing device 710 converted the source layout illustrated in FIG. 9(which may, e.g., have been associated with a first operating systemOS1) into a target layout (which may, e.g., be associated with a secondoperating system OS2), user interface design computing device 710 maydisplay and/or otherwise present a graphical user interface similar tothe OS2 interface in view 1000, which is illustrated in FIG. 10 . Asseen in FIG. 10 , the OS2 interface in view 1000 may include one or moreimages, text content areas, buttons, and/or other user interfaceelements that correspond to the elements included in the source layoutbut which have been modified and/or otherwise converted into elementsthat comply with a different set of design guidelines, so as to createthe target layout.

At step 808, user interface design computing device 710 may send thetarget mockup data. For example, at step 808, user interface designcomputing device 710 may send, via a communication interface (e.g.,communication interface 714), to one or more computer systems (e.g.,user interface design computing device 720, interface layouts server740), the target mockup data defining the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines. In some instances, the target mockup data may comprise adesign map data structure that defines elements corresponding toelements defined in the source mockup data. An example of such a designmap data structure is illustrated in FIG. 11 . As seen in FIG. 11 ,elements may be created in the target layout that correspond to elementsincluded in the source layout. In addition, parent-child relationshipsbetween elements, as well as the properties, behaviors, and/or otherfeatures of other elements, may be preserved and/or adapted as needed tocomply with the set of user interface design guidelines that isapplicable to the target layout.

In some embodiments, the first validated user interface layoutassociated with the first set of user interface design guidelines maycomply with a first plurality of rules specified by the first set ofuser interface design guidelines, and the second validated userinterface layout associated with the second set of user interface designguidelines may comply with a second plurality of rules specified by thesecond set of user interface design guidelines. For example, the firstvalidated user interface layout associated with the first set of userinterface design guidelines (which may, e.g., be used as the sourcelayout by user interface design computing device 710) may comply with afirst plurality of rules specified by the first set of user interfacedesign guidelines, and the second validated user interface layoutassociated with the second set of user interface design guidelines(which may, e.g., be created as the target layout by user interfacedesign computing device 710 during the transformation described above)may comply with a second plurality of rules specified by the second setof user interface design guidelines. Both of these layouts may, forinstance, be deemed “validated” based on and/or because of theircompliance with the rules imposed by their corresponding sets of userinterface design guidelines. In some instances, user interface designcomputing device 710 may validate the source layout (e.g., as beingcompliant with the first set of user interface design guidelines) beforeloading the interface mapping data and/or transforming the source layoutto produce the target layout. Additionally or alternatively, the targetlayout that is produced by user interface design computing device 710during the transformation may be compliant (e.g., with the second set ofuser interface design guidelines) upon its production by virtue of userinterface design computing device 710 using the interface mapping data(which may, e.g., be configured to produce only validated user interfacelayouts during such transformation processes).

In some embodiments, the first set of user interface design guidelines,the second set of user interface design guidelines, and the interfacemapping data may be defined in a structured, machine-readable format.For instance, the first set of user interface design guidelines, thesecond set of user interface design guidelines, and the interfacemapping data may be defined in XML, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON),or another structured, machine-readable format. In addition, the firstplurality of rules specified by the first set of user interface designguidelines may include rules defining object colors, object shapes, fontsettings, or screen positioning relationships, and the second pluralityof rules specified by the second set of user interface design guidelinesmay include additional rules defining object colors, object shapes, fontsettings, or screen positioning relationships. Any and/or all of theserules may be defined in the XML, JavaScript Object Notation (JSON), orother structured, machine-readable format (e.g., being used by userinterface design computing device 710). By defining the first set ofuser interface design guidelines, the second set of user interfacedesign guidelines, and the interface mapping data in a structured,machine-readable format, user interface design computing device 710 mayaccess and utilize such guidelines and/or data in the transformationprocess described above. Additionally or alternatively, the guidelinesand/or data may be stored and/or otherwise maintained on other systemsincluded in computing environment 700, such as user interface designcomputing device 720, interface guidelines server 730, and/or interfacelayouts server 740.

FIG. 12 depicts an example method of transforming validated userinterface layouts using inter-platform design mapping data in accordancewith one or more illustrative aspects described herein. Referring toFIG. 12 , at step 1205, a computing device having at least one processorand memory may load source mockup data defining a first validated userinterface layout associated with a first set of user interface designguidelines. At step 1210, the computing device may load interfacemapping data defining relationships between first user interfaceelements associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines and second user interface elements associated with a secondset of user interface design guidelines different from the first set ofuser interface design guidelines. At step 1215, the computing device maytransform the source mockup data defining the first validated userinterface layout associated with the first set of user interface designguidelines based on the interface mapping data to produce target mockupdata defining a second validated user interface layout associated withthe second set of user interface design guidelines. At step 1220, thecomputing device may store the target mockup data defining the secondvalidated user interface layout associated with the second set of userinterface design guidelines.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are described asexample implementations of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computing device, comprising: at least oneprocessor; memory storing instructions that, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the computing device to: load source mockupdata defining a first user interface layout comprising first userinterface elements that each comply with a first plurality of rules, andwherein each of the first user interface elements has a parent-childrelationship with at least one different one of the first user interfaceelements; load interface mapping data defining a plurality of mappingdata, each of the mapping data defining a correspondence relationshipbetween a user interface element that complies with the first pluralityof rules and a user interface element that complies with a secondplurality of rules different from the first plurality of rules; producetarget mockup data by using the interface mapping data to convert eachof the first user interface elements into a corresponding second userinterface element of a second user interface layout, each second userinterface element complying with the second plurality of rules, whilemaintaining each of the parent-child relationships in the first userinterface layout; and store the target mockup data defining the seconduser interface layout.
 2. The computing device of claim 1, whereinmaintaining each of the parent-child relationships in the first userinterface layout comprises maintaining an interface data structurebetween a parent element and a child element of the first user interfaceelements.
 3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein loading the sourcemockup data comprises receiving the source mockup data from a graphicdesign application executing on the computing device.
 4. The computingdevice of claim 1, wherein loading the interface mapping data comprisesreceiving the interface mapping data from a server maintaining aplurality of datasets defining a plurality of rules.
 5. The computingdevice of claim 4, wherein loading the interface mapping data comprisesrequesting the interface mapping data from the server based on detectingthat the first user interface layout defined by the source mockup datacomplies with the first plurality of rules.
 6. The computing device ofclaim 1, wherein the interface mapping data relates user interfaceproperties associated with a first operating system to user interfaceproperties associated with a second operating system different from thefirst operating system.
 7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein theinterface mapping data relates user interface properties associated witha first display resolution to user interface properties associated witha second display resolution different from the first display resolution.8. The computing device of claim 1, wherein producing the target mockupdata by using the interface mapping data to convert each of the firstuser interface elements into the corresponding second user interfaceelement of the second user interface layout comprises identifyingelements in the first user interface layout that comply with the firstplurality of rules based on a plurality of labels each corresponding toat least one element in the first user interface layout.
 9. Thecomputing device of claim 1, wherein producing the target mockup data byusing the interface mapping data to convert each of the first userinterface elements into the corresponding second user interface elementof the second user interface layout comprises identifying elements inthe first user interface layout that comply with the first plurality ofrules based on analyzing an image of the first user interface layoutthat complies with the first plurality of rules.
 10. The computingdevice of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of rules specifies rulesfor user interfaces on a first operating system, and the secondplurality of rules specifies rules for user interfaces on a secondoperating system different from the first operating system.
 11. Thecomputing device of claim 1, wherein the first plurality of rulesspecifies rules for user interfaces rendered at a first resolution, andthe second plurality of rules specifies rules for user interfacesrendered at a second resolution different from the first resolution. 12.The computing device of claim 1, wherein storing the target mockup datadefining the second user interface layout comprises outputting thetarget mockup data to a graphic design application executing on thecomputing device.
 13. The computing device of claim 1, wherein thememory stores additional instructions that, when executed by the atleast one processor, cause the computing device to: present, on adisplay screen, an image of the second user interface layout thatcomplies with the second plurality of rules based on the target mockupdata.
 14. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the memory storesadditional instructions that, when executed by the at least oneprocessor, cause the computing device to: send, via a communicationinterface, to one or more computer systems, the target mockup datadefining the second user interface layout.
 15. The computing device ofclaim 1, wherein the first plurality of rules, the second plurality ofrules, and the interface mapping data are defined in a structured,machine-readable format, wherein the first plurality of rules compriserules defining object colors, object shapes, font settings, or screenpositioning relationships, and wherein the second plurality of rulescomprise additional rules defining object colors, object shapes, fontsettings, or screen positioning relationships.
 16. A method, comprising:at a computing device comprising at least one processor and memory:loading, by the at least one processor, source mockup data defining afirst user interface layout comprising first user interface elementsthat each comply with a first plurality of rules, and wherein each ofthe first user interface elements has a parent-child relationship withat least one different one of the first user interface elements;loading, by the at least one processor, interface mapping data defininga plurality of mapping data, each of the mapping data defining acorrespondence relationship between a user interface element thatcomplies with the first plurality of rules and a user interface elementthat complies with a second plurality of rules different from the firstplurality of rules; producing, by the at least one processor, targetmockup data by using the interface mapping data to convert each of thefirst user interface elements into a corresponding second user interfaceelement of a second user interface layout, each second user interfaceelement complying with the second plurality of rules, while maintainingeach of the parent-child relationships in the first user interfacelayout; and storing, by the at least one processor, the target mockupdata defining the second user interface layout.
 17. The method of claim16, wherein maintaining each of the parent-child relationships in thefirst user interface layout comprises maintaining an interface datastructure between a parent element and a child element of the first userinterface elements.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the interfacemapping data relates user interface properties associated with a firstoperating system to user interface properties associated with a secondoperating system different from the first operating system.
 19. Themethod of claim 16, wherein the interface mapping data relates userinterface properties associated with a first display resolution to userinterface properties associated with a second display resolutiondifferent from the first display resolution.
 20. One or morenon-transitory computer-readable media storing instructions that, whenexecuted by a computing device comprising at least one processor andmemory, cause the computing device to: load source mockup data defininga first user interface layout comprising first user interface elementsthat each comply with a first plurality of rules, and wherein each ofthe first user interface elements has a parent-child relationship withat least one different one of the first user interface elements; loadinterface mapping data defining a plurality of mapping data, each of themapping data defining a correspondence relationship between a userinterface element that complies with the first plurality of rules and auser interface element that complies with a second plurality of rulesdifferent from the first plurality of rules; produce target mockup databy using the interface mapping data to convert each of the first userinterface elements into a corresponding second user interface element ofa second user interface layout, each second user interface elementcomplying with the second plurality of rules, while maintaining each ofthe parent-child relationships in the first user interface layout; andstore the target mockup data defining the second user interface layout.